the gentleman gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, for a statement that he may have. >> thank you very much. thank you very much, mr. chairman. i think our witnesses for their expected testimony. in the four months since this small town of west texas was shaken, shockwaves have been felt across the country here in washington and even at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. a scale of death and destruction has come under focus and americans have been forced to ask themselves some very tough questions could this type of event happened here in my community? you facilities with explosives or lethal chemicals pose a risk to my family and my home or my community. the likely response is maybe. and surely the federal government does. this west facility explosion undermines that sense of conflict. the firefighters who have gone in to do what they have been trained. fight a fire. this was a chemical fire fueled by ammonium nitrate and until these explosions in the department of homeland security did not know that the west plant even existed. we